Solar farm appeal set for Tuesday
Opponents of a proposed solar farm just southwest of Sioux Falls will take their case to Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County officials on Tuesday.
Cherry Creek Solar's 300-panel solar farm earned the backing of Minnehaha County's Planning Commission in November, but neighbors appealed.
The $25 million project would be built on 100 acres of land on West 57th Street, near RF Pettigrew Elementary School, and generate enough power for about 2,000 homes.
The solar appeal hearing comes one week after another renewable energy project in south Lincoln County failed to earn approval in Canton.
That county's planning commission voted down five meteorological towers for Dakota Power Community Wind on Feb. 17 after nearly three hours of testimony and fierce public opposition.
The company has yet to propose any turbines, but is seeking investors for what could be the largest wind farm in the state and would have used data gathered by the towers to make its case. The Aberdeen-based company has until the end of the day Tuesday to decide whether to appeal the permit denials to the full Lincoln County commission.
The solar farm, proposed by Minnesota-based Geronimo Energy, originally earned approval by the joint city/county planning commission in September.
That vote of confidence raised the hackles of Lincoln County neighbors, however, who weren't notified of the hearing. The land is in Minnehaha County, but the wind farm's setbacks extended into Lincoln County.
"That was an oversight," said Scott Anderson, Minnehaha County Planning Director.
The resulting meeting in November saw neighbors near the solar project raising questions about property values, glare, and the price of breaking down and removing the panels if the company goes under.
A lawyer for one group of opponents, Michael Schaffer, told commissioners in November that Geronimo Energy ought to pay a bond for the decommissioning of the project.
He also told commissioners that the county should require that Cherry Creek finalize plans to sell power to Xcel Energy before granting any conditional use permit.
Some landowners worry that the project could leave a tract of unviable solar panels in an area otherwise poised for residential development at some point during the solar farm's expected 25-year lifespan.
Vince Jones of Woods Fuller law firm represents Seven Mountains Capital Management, which owns 160 acres of land near the Cherry Creek solar farm.
A report on that property from Bender Commercial Real Estate was attached to the landowner's appeal. It concluded that the solar farm would render 40 to 60 acres of the property undevelopable.
Planning commissioners in Minnehaha County approved Cherry Creek's permit on the condition it surround the property with a 6-foot fence, that the company submit a paving, landscaping and storm water plan.
The commission concluded that the project would have almost no impact on the adjacent landowners, "other than the visual impact of the panels themselves."
The appeal will be heard by the joint city and county planning commission at 5 p.m.
If the joint commission affirms the solar farm's permit, Anderson said, the landowners would have 21 days after the publication of the meeting minutes to appeal to circuit court.
The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at Carnegie Town Hall, 224 W. Ninth St.